Personal Assistant to the Alpha (Book 9 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 1

Five years later

Cassidy Kennedy stared at herself in the full length mirror with a critical eye. No one would ever accuse her of being the best dressed. Rent was too high and her outfit was from Goodwill, but she had to make it work. She didn't have a choice. Professional was the name of the game in her world.

Today was her first day at her new job and the salary was much better than the previous two. Once she started to get paychecks on a regular basis, and she could afford to eat more than just ramen, she'd be able to afford some nicer clothes. For now she had to work with what she had, which mostly consisted of used items, and rarely designer brands.

It wasn't a bad outfit though. The pencil skirt definitely looked professional, and the matching jacket pulled her entire outfit together. She'd been lucky to find the complete outfit on the rack, though she'd paid more than she would have liked to for it.

She could actually find some really cute things sometimes. And occasionally she struck gold, and would find a designer brand that still had the tags on it.

She had taken the time to curl her brown hair this morning and spent a little bit of extra time on her makeup. "As always, this is as good as it gets," she muttered to herself as she looked herself over in the full length mirror, adjusting the jacket.

She was so nervous about this job. She was still amazed that she'd gotten it. She had wondered more than once throughout the week since she'd been hired, if perhaps they'd called the wrong person. But she'd worked hard and she was finally starting to see it pay off.

Getting a job working at Big Apple Industries had been a dream come true. Big Apple was a multi billion dollar company that was supposedly one of the top places in New York City to work. She'd almost had a heart attack when she'd came across the job, she was so excited. She still couldn't believe she'd managed to snag the job, but she had and she was excited to start working there.

She glanced at the time and grabbed her long coat and slipped it on, then grabbed her bag and hurried out the door. It was November and the days were becoming much cooler. She'd have to catch a taxi, as it wasn't worth having a car in New York City. She couldn't afford to make payments on one or to constantly pay for parking, which she'd have to do if she parked anywhere near her apartment. The street parking was always full and she couldn't afford to pay to garage it. Less than half of the residents in New York City had their own vehicle.

Ten minutes later she was seated in the back of a taxi and headed to the new job. She breathed out slowly. She was really nervous about this but she had to make it work. She didn't really have a choice. She could do this. If she couldn't, she might as well head home, and that was one thing she didn't want to do. Her parents would be disappointed in her and so would she. She'd be very disappointed in herself. She'd worked too hard to get where she was.

The taxi pulled up in front of Big Apple Industries and she got out and hurried inside of the skyscraper. The last thing she wanted was to be late on her first day. That would not be a very good look. She was always punctual. She took the elevator up to the sixty-fifth floor and stepped off.

The office space was mostly meeting rooms, along with her new boss's office. She walked out of the elevator and into an open area with a large desk that she would soon be manning.. or perhaps womanning.

The office was very modern looking, sleek and recently updated. It had amazing views of the city. It was a fabulous office to work out of and she probably would never be in a nicer one.

"Oh good! You're here. At least you're punctual."

Cassidy smiled at the beautiful blonde who would be training her for the next week. She was the one who had hired Cassidy. She was also very pregnant and working her last week at Big Apple Industries. She had no intention of coming back to her job once her baby was born and she had been in charge of hiring her replacement. "Good morning, Miss Katz."

"You can put your stuff over here." She pointed to a small closet off to the side. "Mr. Abbott won't show up for another hour at least but you need to be here to field calls and get his schedule together for him. He will be in and out throughout the day.

We're going to start with coffee, because Mr. Abbott lives off of it. If you know how to start a coffee IV, that would actually probably be easier, but whatever. I'm going to show you where you can get a pot brewing. Mr. Abbott likes to always have his cup full so always have a fresh pot ready. I usually make a new pot every two hours."

Cassidy nodded, taking mental notes. She wondered how much coffee was wasted per day. She highly doubted Mr. Abbott drank that much coffee. She supposed she could add barista to her resume, after this. Coffee Maker Extraordinaire.

"Come on over here." Miss Katz led her over to a small kitchenette where she set up a pot to brew on the old fashioned coffee maker. Apparently Mr. Abbott didn't need anything fancy and she wondered if he drank it black.

Miss Katz took Cassidy back over to the desk and showed her the computer screen. "This is Mr. Abbott's schedule for the day. Always make sure you have that ready for him when he walks in. His schedule and a fresh cup of coffee. He likes to have a hard copy. I've tried to change him, but that's what he prefers," she said with a shrug. "Maybe you'll have more luck getting him to update certain things."

By lunch, Cassidy was mentally exhausted. Miss Katz, whose first name was Lori, had more energy than an eight month pregnant woman should have. It blew Cassidy's mind a bit. Lori would probably work right up to her delivery, go into a meeting room and give birth, then come back and make Mr. Abbott another pot of coffee if she could, new baby strapped to her front.

Cassidy still had yet to meet Mr. Abbott too, as he hadn't shown up yet, though Lori seemed to think he would show up after lunch.

"Some days, he has things going on outside of the office, and he might not make an appearance at all," Lori told her. "He usually will text you though, but he hasn't texted me today and I don't think he has your number yet."

"Does he know you hired me?" Cassidy asked.

"I mentioned it. I'd probably work right up til I gave birth but my husband would have a fit. He thinks I should have quit months ago," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Cassidy smiled.

She had brought a lunch, but found out that a meal was provided every day if she wanted it, and realized it would be one less thing for her to spend money on. Any way she could cut expenses, she'd take advantage of. The food was probably better than anything she'd bring anyway. She couldn't afford to eat as healthy as she'd like to.

"You can request breakfast too, if you want," Lori told her. "I usually don't, but it's completely up to you. The chef here makes both a full breakfast and lunch every day."

"Okay, thanks," Cassidy responded. She was liking this place more and more by the moment.

"Just make sure you place your order before you leave. They'll have it up here for you when you get in the door. Then place your order for lunch right after you get here," Lori told her. "You can see the menu for the week on the website I have bookmarked on the browser."

"That's good to know," Cassidy said. That would be two meals during the week she wouldn't have to worry about. It would save her some money and she'd probably eat better than a piece of toast, which was her usual breakfast.

"Go eat your lunch. I'll watch the desk," Lori told her.